Alternate Sock Opera
by Vampire Tails
Summary: What if things went as Bill planned them in the first place? *WARNING: Suicide.*


_Collab done two years ago between me and_ _+Maybe a fallen Aηgєl but not a Dᴇᴍᴏɴ_ _. She had Dipper and Mabel, and I had Bipper, Stan, and Dipper at the end._

* * *

Bipper had retrieved the Journal without a hitch. He grinned to himself, sneaking back down the stairs and to the back of the stage, opening the book to scan every page. Nothing was going to stop him now. Mabel was distracted - talking to Gabe, who was telling her how amazing the show was, how much he loved it. She grinned at the compliments, thanking him. Bipper laughed a little. Mabel was oh, so clueless - everyone was. And it would be the Pine family's, and this entire world's, undoing. He pocketed the book, and exited the theater entirely, intent on finding a place to destroy the Journal. And then, after that, he'd take it to the next level…

The back of the theater led to the forest. And luckily the one Bipper needed - the water tower was right up there. Dipper could only watch in horror as he walked out with the Journal. _"You better not do anything with that book…"_

The demonic boy turned to Dipper, that monstrous smile playing on his lips, "You can't do anything about it, now can you?" and then he kept walking, entering the forest soon enough. He looked around for twigs. Sure, it was a bit primitive, but it'd have to do for now.

"Why, yes, Gabe, I'm glad you asked!" Mabel grinned and began to go through each and every single piece of the set and puppets, telling where it came from, how long it took, and what her favorite thing about it was. "And this is sock puppet #356! Well, that just about sums it up!"

"Wow… how long did it take you to make all this?" Gabe was awed.

"A week," she shrugged. "Oh, I could show you the studio we used to make it all! AKA, my home! C'mon!" she took his hand, and rushed out the door. He was perfectly fine with it. On the way, they passed Bipper. "Hey, Dipper! Bye, Dipper!"

The real Dipper, in the mindscape, was shocked to realize, once again, Mabel didn't catch it was him. He sat down and curled up, trying not to think about it.

"Bye, Mabel!" he waved, grinning innocently at first. But it soon turned monstrous yet again, and he added quietly, "Forever…" he found some twigs, finally, and used them to start a fire. He walked a little farther, closer to the water tower, tossed them on the ground, watching the fire grow bigger. And then he pulled out the Journal, grinning still.

Dipper heard the fire, and gasped, _"No!"_ he flew and reached for the Journal, trying to grab it before it fell. But he went right through it. Books weren't exactly good media of possession. It fell right into the fire, and the flames started lapping it up. Bipper laughed, almost crazily. Of course, because he _was_. He looked at the soul again, grinning unsettlingly, "Welp, the deed is done. Now to kick it up a notch!"

The boy stared at the ashes, horrified. He didn't start crying, though. He was stronger than that. He looked at Bill, _"What are you going to do now? you burnt the Journal, now it's time for you to give me my body back!"_

"Hehehe, here's the thing - you never actually gave me your side of the deal," that grin broadened. "So I can do whatever I want, kid," he started backing off and away, towards the water tower. It should be crowded today. He continued, voice low and dark now, "And it'll be giving this body of yours the show it rightfully deserves. You're gonna thank me afterwards." Or not. Bill didn't care.

" _What are you going to…"_ then he saw the water tower. His eyes widened, _"Oh no. Oh no no no no no…"_

The demon laughed, and began running to it, facing forwards now, being sure he made a scene. Dipper tried to stop him, zooming past and in front of him, holding his arms out and waving them, "No, wait, stop!" he called out, biting his lip, hoping that he could do something…

Bipper didn't stop though, going straight through, climbing up the water tower, laughing and shouting for everyone to pay attention to him, "Hey, look at me! hahahahaha!"

Dipper stared with shock and terror. _"This is… this is too far, Bill! If you don't get down… I'm going to…"_ he drifted off, realizing he couldn't do much of anything to Bipper. _"What can I do to get my body back?"_

The possessed boy ignored this and continued to climb, making this as slow and agonizing for Dipper as possible, still laughing like the maniac he was proud to be. Most everyone in the crowd was staring, some horrified, others amused, thinking it was some type of show outside the Sock Opera. Mabel soon came out, wondering what all the fuss was about. She watched Dipper climb, confused. Bipper looked down at the crowd as he climbed, and saw Shooting Star in there. He grinned. Perfect. Dipper frowned, and then asked again, his eyes wide and his hands drawn up to his chest, _"What can I do to make you stop climbing? what can I give you?"_

Bipper looked at the soul, cackling still, "You're smart enough, kid. Why don't you figure that out? I bet you can't though!"

Having a bad feeling about all of this, Mabel called out to him, "Dipper! What are you doing?"

He was almost to the top, and answered her with, "Oh, I just wanted to climb this water tower. I heard it's a very special achievement in life!"

The girl bit her lip and started to climb after him, feeling like this was something different. She ignored her fear of heights. "You're not making any sense!"

"Oh, hehe, what's the fun in making sense?" he grinned down at her, still climbing. Of course, he was too far up at this point.

She started climbing faster, as fast as she could, "Dipper, what's wrong with you? you… you sound really weird!"

"Funny you say that _now_ , Mabel! I've sounded weird all day!" he laughed, still climbing. He suddenly let go and twirled, and then caught onto the water tower before he fell too far, teasing everyone. He then started climbing again, laughing.

"You.. what's wrong with you?" she didn't realize who he sounded like, her brow furrowing..

"Take a wild guess…" he chuckled, and was almost to the top again. There was nothing Mabel could do to stop him even if she figured it out. He was overconfident. Dipper tried to talk to Mabel, to tell her what was wrong. But nothing he said was heard. He couldn't give up, though he felt like it. Mabel sped up, climbing, but could already tell she wouldn't be able to get up there in time. For whatever he was going to do. He finally made it, and started dancing, every now and then teetering dangerously close to the edge, teasing everyone once again.

Mabel finally made it to the top, still largely ignoring her acrophobia. "What are you doing up here, Dipper?" she thought he went insane, maybe.

"To enjoy the sights, one last time!" he giggled, stopping his dance. This was perfect. He'd be able to take down Mabel too if he wanted. But even one missing from the Zodiac Ten would render the prophecy useless. His giggles turned into hyena-like laughter. Mabel gasped, "You're not going to…?"

"Oh, yes!" he grinned monstrously, insanely.

She raced towards him, about to cry, "Don't, please!"

"Oh, so now you finally care?" that grin grew bigger, until all of a sudden he frowned, and that looked uglier than any smile he ever pulled. "I'm appalled by you, Mabel!" He stepped back, closer to the edge now. Everyone finally took notice that this was for real and started screaming.

"Dipper.." her heart dropped to her stomach, as she stared at the floor, and then at him, "can't we talk about this? why are you doing this?"

" _MABEL, THAT'S NOT ME!"_ Dipper yelled one last time, tearing up.

"Hehe, yeah, funny you say that name," he grinned again, finally deciding it was time to reveal. Albeit vaguely. "Cause, yeah, it's just your good ol' pal." Those golden eyes shimmered, and he laughed again, one last time, "Try and catch me, Shooting Star!"

And then he fell off the tower, laughing all the way. She almost dove after him. But she was only fast enough to watch him fall, just for a few seconds, until he hit the ground. She shook all over, staring at his body. She sat down, sobbing, not seeing the point in going back down. So she just went in sweater town to ignore the fact that she just watched her brother kill himself. Dipper gasped, eyes wide. He started to cry, _"No… no…."_

Stan was no among the crowd, having rushed over there after he heard the commotion, and his mouth was wide open. He pushed through the people, heading over to the body of his great nephew. Back in the Nightmare Realm, Bill Cipher was still laughing like a maniac. Things were going well…

* * *

The car ride home was silent, almost deafening. Dipper was wrapped up in the trunk, ready for a proper burial after Stan called their parents. Mabel sat in the front seat, quiet, before her eyes began to roam. On the floor was a note. She read it, and her eyes went wide.

"Note to self: possessing people is hilarious! to think of all the sensations I've been missing out on - burning, stabbing, drowning. It's like a buffet tray of fun! once I destroy that Journal, I'll enjoy giving this body its grand finale - by throwing it off the water tower! best of all, people will just think Pine Tree lost his mind, and his mental form will wander in the mindscape forever. Want to join him, _Shooting Star_?"

That's when the lines connected, and she beat herself up inwardly for not thinking of it sooner.

Bill…

It was Bill…

Bill had been possessing him.

And she blissfully ignored it and let it happen without a care...


End file.
